An overview of the British motorcycle industry and
its collapse

By the early years of the 20th century, almost everything in
motorcycling has been invented, tested and used: from single to multiple
cylinder machines in every possible layout; chain, shaft and belt drive; liquid
cooling; front- and rear-wheel drive; telescopic and girder forks; kickstarts,
electric starters, twist throttle, multiple gears, and more.

Despite some landmarks in its development, motorcycles donít have a rigid
pedigree that can be traced back to a single idea or machine. Instead, the idea
seems to have occurred to numerous engineers and inventors around Europe
more-or-less simultaneously. In the decade from the late 1880s, dozens of
designs and machines emerged, particularly in France, Germany and England, and
soon spread to America.

It really began with the booming bicycle craze that swept Europe in the
1870s-1880s. Bicycles were inexpensive transportation that proved easier to
maintain, and cheaper than, horses. Early designs were stylish but awkward and
clumsy - such as the Penny Farthing, with its pedals on the tall front wheel.
Later, smaller wheels and rear-wheel drive would make them even more practical,
and mass production made them more inexpensive.

It wasnít much of a jump to put a motor on a bicycle. Engine technology was
evolving and within a few years stable, dependable engines were being
mass-produced, many small enough to be easily fitted onto a bicycle frame. The
entrepreneurial spirit of the industrialized nations like Britain quickly
grabbed hold of the idea and companies sprang up all over Europe. In England,
many were concentrated around the industrial centres like Coventry.

"Most motorcyclists love to spend their Sunday mornings
taking off the cylinder head and re-seating the valves."
Donald Heather, director of Norton, 1957.

Quoted by Bert Hopwood in
Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?

Hopwood was chastised by the director for designing an
advanced 250cc engine with one-piece cylinder .

By the turn of the century, in 1901, motorcycles were being manufactured for
sale in several European countries. Most early models were either tricycles or
based on bicycles - often made by bicycle firms. With only a few automobile
manufacturers making cars, and the extra expense of a four-wheeler, motorcycles
rapidly gained popularity, even among women who were enjoying the new political
and social freedoms of the era. By 1913, there were 100,000 bikes registered in
Britain.

Experimentation and innovation drove development right into the First World
War. The new sport of motorcycle racing was a powerful incentive to produce
tough, fast, reliable machines. These enhancements soon found their way to the
publicís machines. By 1914, motorcycles were no longer bicycles with engines:
they had their own technologies, although many still maintained bicycle elements
like seats and suspension.

The war dampened development considerably, however. The armed forces of both
sides demanded reliability and durability more than speed and innovation. Armed
forces purchased thousands of bikes - a powerful economic incentive for
manufacturers to be conservative. The output for public markets dwindled or
ceased altogether. Many small companies didnít make it through the war years,
closing their doors for good.

World War One did a great deal to develop the British and European motorcycle
industries. It forced manufacturers to work hard to both meet production demands
and to develop better, stronger machines. A strong entrepreneurial spirit drove
the industries there. In the USA, which did not enter the
war until 1917, car manufacturers got a head start on the market. The USA saw inexpensive,
mass-produced cars much earlier, often competing in price against
motorcycle-sidecar outfits. By 1920, the 200 American manufacturers that began the war
were reduced to less than 40. By 1930, only three remained. When Excelsior closed
in 1931, only Harley Davidson and Indian were left.

In the post-war euphoria, British production started again at an even faster
pace. At the first Olympia motorcycle show, in 1919, there were 112 motorcycle
manufacturers displaying their products. Many were still only assemblers: they
bought parts and engines and built them into their own machines. The numbers
grew steadily until about 300 companies had their own marques between the wars
(about 700 British marques were registered in the first century of
motorcycling). The peak year for motorcycle production in Britain was 1929, when
147,000 machines were made.

But the machineís popularity plummeted with the Depression and many companies
closed as sales fell. There werenít enough customers for all the companies, and
not enough money to support all of the models. Export sales plummeted, and
Britain taxed larger engines, so manufacturers cut prices and produced
inexpensive models.

England exited the Depression with fewer motorcycle companies facing
new and growing competition from cheaper domestic automobiles. But the
remaining firms were more competitive and aggressive. With a smaller
market, racing and competition drove development. The motorcycle was
still a utilitarian vehicle, inexpensive transportation aimed at the
working man, but there was greater focus on design and style - and power.

Another factor accelerating the development of motorcycling was the
change in roadways across Britain. In the decades before and after the
war, governments launched road improvement programs, building or upgrading
connecting links between towns and cities to improve internal trade
and transportation. These led to the development of road cafes - initially
intended as convenience stops for truck transport, they soon became
favourite spots for motorcyclists. The sport of cafe racing grew from
bikers who would race between stops, or between cafes and local landmarks.
Cafe racing was in turn another enticement for improved performance
and encouraged backyard mechanics to tinker with their machines. The
Triton (a Triumph engine in a Norton frame) and Tribsa (Triumph engine
in a BSA frame) are examples of their entrepreneurial efforts.

A similar road-building program in the post-war USA saw the development
of more than 41,000 miles of highways across the country. Instead of
encouraging a generation of bikers to race, it led to the development
of suburban sprawl and the decline of inner city life in America. The
result today can be seen in the SUV: a lumbering, ugly, gas-guzzling,
and unsafe behemoth..

Machines in the UK continued to improve and evolve. The mid-to-late 1930s saw some of
the most innovative designs in motorcycling, and some of the best machines come
from the post-Depression period. But they were also more expensive. The role of
the motorcycle as inexpensive public transportation devolved through the 30s: it
became more of a hobbyist or competition machine. Use in police and armed forces
also grew, providing a stable market for more utilitarian machines - especially
as Europe rearmed. But motorcycling was increasingly an enthusiast's hobby.

The Second World War again brought a closure to many factories. A lot of
firms went on to make products for the war effort, some simply closed. Only a
handful continued to make motorcycles, mostly to supply the British Army. Export
sales dwindled as shipping was strangled by U boat raids. German bombing raids in
Coventry and London spelled disaster for some companies: they never recovered
from the loss of plants and equipment. Others simply never returned to make
motorcycles.

"Indeed, in the early 1960s, the Chief Executive of a
world famous group of management consultants tried hard to convince me that it
is ideal that top level management executives should have as little knowledge as
possible relative to the product...

"...BSA, the early 1960s,... was embarking on a
madness of management consultancy, rather than getting on with the real job of
work. It was the disaster of academic business thinking that finally
crucified British industry which was respected throughout the world...

"Far from getting to grips with the realities of life
and absorbing a little of our customer attitudes, several of the top brass, in
the last two decades of the BSA saga, disliked, if not openly hated,
motorcycles.
One of these gentlemen made some very disparaging comments about the two-wheeled
world a short time before he graduated to the hot seat...."

Bert Hopwood in
Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?

After the war, a battered and financially beleaguered Britain struggled to rebuild. Petrol rationing, the lack of
resources for manufacturing and low consumer capital made recovery slow.
Innovation was strangled by lack of funds and a deeply conservative mindset at
the executive level of many firms. Innovative designs were produced, but many
proved unsuccessful in the market, or just too expensive. The British Army put a
lot of its motorcycles into civilian hands after the war, creating a brief glut
of inexpensive, utilitarian motorcycles in the market at a time when other vehicles were scarce.

But the image of motorcycling was also changing, the result of servicemen
returning home. Looking for some sense of identity and freedom, many turned to
motorcycling. Cafť racing, the Ďton-upí crowd of leather-jacketed riders,
and the newly emerging motorcycle gangs added a darker side to motorcycles that
further turned away more conservative buyers. More and more consumers opted for
cars as their family vehicle, and motorcycle sales - initially rising after the
war, soon slumped again.

Export sales, especially to the USA, accounted for a large proportion of
post-war British production. While good for business, it often made many models
unavailable or scarce in the domestic market. The USA was a rich market, with only two motorcycle companies of its own in the 1950s: Indian and Harley
Davidson. The lighter, faster Triumph, Norton and BSA machines became so popular
that US firms fought unsuccessfully to have them banned or heavily taxed. After
Indian collapsed, in 53, British machines became even more popular, especially
in the race and trials circuits where they dominated the events.

Nineteen fifty-nine was a peak year for the British industry: motorcycle
sales and exports were at their highest levels. Flushed with their own
success, most companies didnít bother to look at emerging trends, or
take stock of their aging designs. Most of the executives and designers
came from pre-War days: they looked back to the glory days of the 30s,
not ahead. And as such, they created some beautiful, exciting
machines - many were race-oriented, however, an increasingly smaller
portion of the market than manufacturers seemed to realize.

Worse, few if any top level people came from within the motorcycle industry: the trend
was to hire from outside the industry. The post-war paradigm in business
management encouraged manufacturers to replace outgoing executives with
graduates from business schools, generally people with financial backgrounds,
instead of promoting from within. Engineers - never common in upper
management - were increasingly scarce around the board room tables.
Decisions were being made more and more by people far removed from the
production side.

In the 1960s, middle- and upper-management levels became swollen
with employees far removed from design and manufacturing. Management
consultants made efficiency studies and wrote endless reports. Financial
experts continually changed processes and set up new systems for reporting,
stocking and testing. Marketing departments expanded as product lines
shrank. Money was poured into studies and increasing management expenses.

Unions also helped the demise. Once powerful forces of social change,
British trade unions had ossified into opponents of any change that they
perceived as a threat to the workforce. Modern mass production
techniques were one of those threats. Management found it easier to
continue their labour-intensive 19th-century production lines than get
embroiled in fights with aggressive unions determined to preserve the
status quo.

The motorcycle industry was in the doldrums and financially in trouble
by the early 1960s. Most companies continued to make bikes based on
pre-war designs - designs that no longer interested a younger generation.
Production quality fell as testing time was shortened by management
eager to get bikes into the market sooner.

The scooter craze of the late 1950s-early 1960s helped boost sales,
but not for long, and not enough, although it generated a production
wave that seemed to presage richer days ahead. In fact, the rush to
develop and market scooters cost a lot of motorcycle companies precious
resources and capital. The craze crested and the demand dwindled, but
the companies didn't seem to notice it until too late.
The backlash was greater reluctance to re-tool for new motorcycle designs.

Consumers with more money wanted automobiles, not motorcycles for the
family vehicle. The inexpensive Mini car was introduced in 1959, effectively
killing sales for the sidecar market. Fifty nine was the last real boom
year for British motorcycles - 127,000 bikes were built then. But the manufacturers didn't seem able
to read the writing on the wall.

"It is difficult to understand why AMC bothered to
expand and absorb Norton, James and Francis Barnett, for the new empire seemed
to be far too much of a nuisance in a somnolent organization which took
exception to, and vetoed any form of planning which was likely to further the
business interests of any of the companies which had been absorbed."

Bert Hopwood in
Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?

Slowly, companies were dying out or being bought. The amalgamation
of companies like BSA-Norton-Villiers-Triumph might have made financial
sense, but the consolidation of manufacturing and engineering into a
small number of firms only made the industry stagnate. Too few designers
and too little competition was the death knell for the industry. What
had been friendly competition by independent firms became bitter internal
rivalry after amalgamation. Racing was also losing its support as sponsors
pulled out in favour of automobile racing. The public lost its
previous passion for the marques.

The final blow to the British motorcycle industry came with the increasing
import of Japanese motorcycles into the USA and European markets. Less
expensive than domestic machines, they were more reliable, and showed
more innovation and engineering development than their British counterparts.
British companies were too slow to react to the competition: their roots
were essentially Victorian in both management and production. Too many
manufacturers were making bikes for a small group of enthusiasts or
for racing, rather than as public transport. There was no real up-scale
market for these motorcycles at the time, but most manufacturers continued
to produce expensive machines - until their small market dried up and
they closed. Many never appreciated the market for commuter bikes.

The Japanese rebuilt the image of motorcycling as the pastime of everyone,
not just a clique of enthusiasts. Motorcycles were fun, friendly and
ridden by the nicest people, as Honda's ads reported. They invigorated the market and pushed
up sales, especially targetting the teen and young adult consumers.
But the British industry was doomed. It couldnít even ride the coattails
of the Japanese successes because it couldnít change quickly enough.
Their products couldnít compare, they couldnít make enough, and the
Japanese were winning the races that had been the pride of the British
for so long. The CB 750, introduced by Honda in 1968, took the industry
by surprise: it was bigger, faster and better than anything the British
could offer. No one had really believed he Japanese could make motorcycles
of this size, but they did and it blew the competition away.

British manufacturers had always been hesitant to reinvest in more modern machinery, so
production was often based on pre-WW2 equipment; slow, outdated and
expensive to maintain - often using hand tooling instead of production
line processes. Company owners and directors continued to take dividends
out of the firms, at a time when the Japanese were borrowing heavily
to invest in the most modern production equipment. The Japanese put
their earnings back into the companies. The result was that British
motorcycle quality was visibly deteriorating; styling was antiquated.
Meanwhile the Japanese motorcycles were reliable, inexpensive and visibly
modern.

Production was often limited, and sometimes focused on more lucrative
export sales rather than domestic. BSA made 100,000 lightweight Bantams
from 1948-53, but that was a small fraction of the one million small
50cc Quickly mopeds made by NSU from 1953 to 59. Plus, the Bantam had
none of the styling of the Italian or German vehicles that attracted
consumers. Since 1958, Honda has produced more than 26 million Super
Cubs, proving that there is a market for small, lightweight
two-wheelers.

BSA was one of the few firms to upgrade equipment and install new machinery
after WW2 - including a semi-automated computerized assembly line considered
to be the most advanced outside of Japan. But a series of market failures
(including the pathetic Ariel Three moped, 90cc Dandy scooter and 75cc Beagle)
lost the company considerable money in the 1960s, so BSA was forced
to sell off their assets. The company was left with only enough to continue
to make the Rocket Three, and soon closed its doors.

The role of the motorcycle shifted in the 1960s, from the tool of a
life to a toy of a lifestyle. It became part of an image, of status,
a cultural icon for individualism, a prop in Hollywood B-movies. It also became a recreational machine
for sport and leisure, a vehicle for carefree youth, not essential transportation
for the mature family man or woman. As the motorcycle riders of the
Sixties aged, took on families, careers and homes, they purchased cars
and put away the motorcycle, or simply sold it. Sales began to fall
after the brief euphoria of the 1960s and the Hippie movement dimmed.

The British industry staggered along into the 1970s with fewer companies
and more mergers - only nine firms were left by 1969. Some half-hearted
attempts were made to create new machines to compete against the Japanese
- the Triumph Trident, for one - but they were too little, too late.
The last British motorcycle manufacturer - Triumph (by then part of
the conglomerate NVT) - closed in 1983, a century after it had begun.

"The story of our failure is indeed one of gross
mismanagement, for at no time in the last twenty years did we master the arts of
assembling the right expertise and planning management strategy based on the
collected knowledge and advice of those people who are always to be found within
a company with any background...

"...with a further influx of experts from other fields,
we were finally overrun by an upper/middle management who... were now in
consumer durables.
Never for one moment did they seem to grasp that these particular things were
motorcycles and that we were supposed to be earning a living making them."

Bert Hopwood in
Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry?

There were some abortive attempts at revival - Norton, Hesketh, Quasar - in
the interim, but it wasnít until John Bloor resurrected Triumph a decade
later that the British motorcycle industry made a real comeback. Bloorís
success came because he continues to upgrade and improve his production
line equipment, has stringent quality control and keeps his company
focused on the competition to find new trends, technologies and styles.
Triumph has also identified owner loyalty as a large part of the marketing,
and catered to it through its own line of branded products, magazines,
web site and ridersí clubs - taking a page from the very successful
Harley Davidson.

Motorcycling is enjoying a boom in the new millennium. Sales have
risen (in Canada alone, sales for 2000 were up 28 per cent over 1999 and
up 28 per cent again in 2002), as a generation of baby boomers with disposable
incomes want to recapture their youth turn to motorcycles as the time
machine to bring it back for them. Triumph, recognizing this market, has
in its mix several models that provide the nostalgic styling and
evocative lines that recall those younger days, including a newly
launched Bonneville. Ironically, trading in the now-vintage and classic
bike market is stronger than ever, propelled by enthusiasts trying to
keep alive the spirit of British motorcycling in its heyday. It was a
special time, and it should never be forgotten.